State-owned Mighty River Power's full year generation was 5.2% down on a year earlier, with rising geothermal output unable to replace all the hydro production lost due to drought in the Waikato.Figures published today show the company generated 5812 giga
State-owned Mighty River Power's full year generation was 5.2% down on a year earlier, with rising geothermal output unable to replace all the hydro production lost due to drought in the Waikato.
Figures published today show the company generated 5812 gigawatt hours in the year to June, compared to 6129 GWh in the previous 12 months.
The November to mid-May drought in the Waikato had a significant impact on Mighty River Power's hydro generation, Mighty River said.
Inflows were the second lowest since 1927 in the March to mid-May period, with the level of Lake Taupo dropping to within 7cm of the minimum operating range, its lowest level in 40 years.
As a result hydro generation production fell 14% or 620GWh to 3730GWh. Long run annual average hydro production for the Waikato hydro system was 4000GWh.
The Southdown co-generation power station was used to partially mitigate reduced hydro production, generating 504GWh, an increase of 14% from a year earlier, Mighty River said.
Geothermal generation rose 259GWh or 20% to 1562GWh, with the 140 megawatt Nga Awa Purua geothermal power station commissioned in April. Geothermal provided 27% of total production in the year, up from 21% in the previous 12 months.
Renewable generation made up 91.3% of total production, slightly down on 92.8% in the 2009 financial year due to much weaker hydro conditions, the company said.
The weighted average price fell to $63 per megawatt hour in the latest year, from $67 in the year before.
Mighty River said its retail businesses gained 30,000 new customers in the past 12 months. Residential sales by volume were up by 11%, and commercial sales by 14%, offset by a fall in financial contracts to large commercial customers.
